Rating: 
Summary: This book Redefines "ACTION"
Review: This book wore me out! I have NEVER read such a fast paced book before. I had been looking for something with non-stop action and saw a review for this book in Amazon.com and thought I'd give it a try. WOW! This book reminds me of some of the old serial clift hangers from the 40"s, where at the end of each episode the hero was about to die some horible death, only to begin the next chapter with some ingenious escape. If you require that your adventure books be plausible, then you may not enjoy this book, but if you read for pure pleasure and can accept the fantastic, you will love this book. I was physically exhausted when I finished, and with a smile you couldn't sand blast off! Check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Really fictional fiction
Review: I cannot remember reading a book as bad as this one. I kept thinking it was going to get better, so I continued. It wasn't the writing. so much as the author's obvious reluctance or inability to do any research to verify any of his statements. His position seems to be that since he's writing fiction, he can simply make up everything, as it suits him. I began to suspect this when he started using the killer whales(Orcas) as villains to devour folks. In fact, they never, ever do that!It went downhill from there. He obviously has not even rudimentary knowledge of scuba, nitrogen saturation, etc and made no attempt to be realistic factually in any way.I have been a science fiction-fantasy fan for years, and the best is always rooted in truth as the starting place.
Rating: 
Summary: Total popcorn, but fun if you like things over the top.
Review: Oh my lord... I couldn't believe the sheer audacity of this guy! I mean, no research, no real attempt at characterization and a plot so thin you could see through it. As was explaining the book to friends we couldn't stop laughing at how ludicrous it all was. But at the same time it was so much fun I have to recommend it as a sort of "palette cleanser" between more serious, well written books. It's a carnival ride that is so consistantly silly and action packed that, if you don't expect too much, you can easily get lost and find yourself enjoying such lunacy as the (my personal favorite) nuclear submarine that gets destroyed by a grappling hook. Leave your good sense and taste at the door and have a little fun.
Rating:
Summary: Now THIS is Non-Stop Action!!!
Review: Saw a review of Ice Station here on Amazon.com yesterday and since I have been looking for a really fast paced, action packed type book, thought I'll give it a try. WOW... Take the movies Speed and Die Hard and add them together and you get the idea of the totally non-stop action in this book. I had to stop half way thru and take a short nap! Just when you think you'll be able to stop and take a break from the action.....it accelerates!! This is the type book that you want to see made into a movie. Now is everything within the book plausible?? WHO CARES?!? If you are looking for action.... find a comfortable chair, grab a cool drink, and hang on cause this book redefines action. Ran out this morning and picked up Matt's newest, "Temple" and will start it next.
Rating:
Summary: Man, this book SUCKED!
Review: I haven't read a book as silly and poorly written as this one in quite a while. The author doesn't know what he's writing about (there are howling mistakes about all things military and scientific, let alone pig ignorance of marine biology, scuba diving, physiology, physics, etc) and doesn't seem to have an original idea. Just about everything in this book is cliched and lifted from Alistair McLean (Ice Station Zebra), Craig Wood (Firefox), Andy McNab (Bravo Two Zero) and a dozen insipid Hollywood "action" movies. It's the written equivalent of the C-movie "throw a grenade into a room and watch it kill only the baddies when it goes off" ethos (the author should watch "Top Secret").As an exercise if you are tempted to buy this book: count up the number of impossible escapes that are needed when the pathetic plot runs up against a brick wall. (I gave up counting at 15). These aren't entertaining, they're stupid. And there's not even any comedy or romance or anything to lighten up this load of tripe. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Ice Station An action packed escape!!
Review: Matt Reilly's book Ice Station is far from the great american novel, but it does provide some action filled escapism. A mysterious ship found buried in the ice at the bottom of the world is cause for a fire team of marines to be sent to secure the ice station, and wind up running around trying not to get killed by invading French commandos, or eaten by Orca whales. Reilly's conspiracy theories seemed inventive, and I thought it was entertaining to say the least. His main characters are interesting to read about, and yeah I have to admit i liked Schofield, and the way that Reilly brought him to life on the pages. I even found his use of the young girl Kristy no where near as annoying as I thought I might have. Oh yeah the seal is pretty damn cute too. His secondary characters are another story. They seem a little thin, and all fit into nice neat little stereotypes. Not that that is a bad thing, but it is glaringly apparent. Overall I thought that it was good read, and was able to overlook the dramatic license that mister Reilly took with it.
Rating:
Summary: Non-Stop Action!
Review: Plot? If each book you read has to have one, you might be disappointed. If you read for pure enjoyment, you'll love this book. Incredibly, every page (literally every page) has edge-of-your-seat excitement. The book never lets you slow down and catch your breath. How the author came up with all these different twists is beyond me. As the reader, you find yourself thinking "What else could possibly happen?", and you're only halfway through the book. Pick it up on a cold, dreary weekend and see how quickly your weekend's over.
Rating:
Summary: For pure action...Ice Station reigns supreme...
Review: I echo the thoughts of others who have stated plain and simple that this novel is full of action on top of suspense on top of explosions and add an extra dash of action again. It quite literally never ceases after it starts. Think of the most intense moments from ALL the James Bond and Die Hard movies and then multiply that exponentially and you get the idea. Also, those who dislike this book seem to be totally missing the point of the story. It isn't meant to be taken seriously...but more likely it was meant to give you hours of pure fun, and what is wrong with that? I certainly can't fault Mr. Reilly for that, mostly because I actually enjoyed this exceptionally fun tale very much. For a first novel, this really bodes well for his upcoming stories, which I for one will DEFINITELY be buying and reading. The story is certainly one of thrilling consequences: Could an honest-to-goodness UFO have been found embedded in ice for a millennia? What the bigger question in this action-after-action novel is more like: Now that we've found something that COULD be alien...how are we gonna stay alive? Finding the answer is as fun as just about anything you are likely to read this year. Literature this AIN'T...but fun it IS. Check it out and without having any pre-conceived notions about what an action/adventure novel is supposed to be, I think you are gonna have a fun ride ahead of you.
Rating:
Summary: A stinker
Review: This book is atrocious. There's not a single thing about it that commends it: the writing is abysmal; there are no characters, just a bunch of cliches; and there is no plot, just an excuse for dumb whiz-bang "action". If a book is fun, you can forgive a fiction writer many, many factual mistakes and gaffes, even in a genre where factual accuracy is usually taken for granted. You can't do this for Reilly. Anyone who knows anything about: (a) the antarctic; (b) killer whales; (c) scuba diving; (d) the military; (e) strategy and tactics; (f) weapons; (g) human physiology, ought to skip this book or die cringing at its many absurd mistakes. But what you can't forgive is poor writing, and this book abounds with it. (His other two books are even worse -- his first was an insult to the intelligence of any reader that has to rank as one of the stupidest things I have ever read.) I tried to read this book in spite of the writing but couldn't get through it. It was just too hard. Reilly sounds like a grade 3 student struggling though his first creative writing project. What worries me most, however, is that many of the glowing, positive reviews of this book don't seem to be honest. There are at least *two* reviews by a Mr R Govier, who seems to be the webmaster of the "official" website of the author but who doesn't mention this fact. Naturally, these reviews are glowing and try to excuse the stupidities in the book because it is "just fiction". I would take any other positive review with a HUGE grain of salt. Ignore this rubbishy book.
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS EVER!!!
Review: Ice station is an amazing book that tells a story of just how greedy a country will get over an object that they have never seen, or even know really what it is. A team of marines is sent to a research station in the middle of Antarctica not knowing that this, for many of them will be their last mission. They will need to fight almost every comando force in the world, in addition to mother nature at her angriest. Ice Station is an action packed, explosive, high adrenaline filled book. You will be up at 2 in the morning reading it. Every page you will gasp and say, "oh my gosh, he's going to die!" I have never read a better book in my life. (My son, a James Bond/MI2 fan, loved it as well.)
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